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Saturday, June 20, 2020

Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community - Father's Day Liturgy 2020 - Presiders: Debra Trees, ARCWP and Bill Roylance

Josie McPherson with her dad, Milton McPherson
Welcome and Theme: Father’s Day – a time to remember the Men in our lives who have had a profound impact on us to help shape the person we are today. We celebrate the men throughout the world who hold in compassion and love the children entrusted to their care.

Opening Prayer - Source of Life, we thank you for the fathers in our life. Whether our actual father or another man who touched our lives with love, encouragement, example and support, we are grateful for their presence. Today as we celebrate with the men in our community and world, we hope that all of us emulate the wonderful characteristics of Father. We wish for them every joy in their discipleship of emulating Jesus’s call to love. Amen.

Opening Song: God Beyond All Names https://youtu.be/5Htrmq0g_Nk

First Reading from The Best Part of Life, Anya Seton

I was a restless little girl, greedy for sensations, hankering too much for the next moment, without savoring the now. My father, Ernest Thompson Seton, was a naturalist and a great admirer of our Indians. In both capacities he had learned the art of wonder - simple looking, without strain or self-consciousness, until he really saw.

Long ago, at our Connecticut home, he would take me on walks, which often bored me, for suddenly he would stop stock-still on the road, gazing up at a bank.

“What are you staring at, daddy?” I would clamor. “Do let's go on!”

“Look, child!” he would answer, smiling. “What do you see?” And i would see nothing but a dull mass of Stones and dead leaves, while I tugged at him impatiently.  “Look again!” he would command, unmoving. And at last I learned to see what he did, the glimmering petals of spring beauties, or hepatica, the turquoise glint of a fallen robin’s egg, a baby rabbit peering out from under a toadstool, the chipped rosy quartz of an Indian arrowhead dropped three hundred years before.

Gradually I learned one of the most comforting truths in life - that the present moment is always filled with curious treasures, if we but quiet ourselves and look deep.

Two often through the years of marriage, motherhood and writing of my books, I have forgotten this lesson and plunged into hectic rush, until the mind and nerves get frazzled and the body therefore sickens. Then I'm stopped by the echo of my father's voice – “Wait a minute! What's the hurry? Stand still and look until you really see!”

Perhaps this command is easiest to follow with regard to nature and art, but it does not depend on these to yield its magic balm. There is no person, no situation which cannot cause wonder, if we will stop and gaze as though for the first time.

Goethe said, “the highest to which man can attain is wonder.” And the faculty does seem to lead to humility and gratitude and happiness.

These are the sacred words from Anya Seton, and the community affirms them by saying: AMEN.

Alleluia.

Gospel Matthew 10: 26 to 30.  

Do not, therefore, be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed which will not be revealed, nor anything hidden which will not become known. What I tell you in the dark, say again in the light; and what is whispered in your ear, proclaim on the housetops. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; rather be afraid of the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for one copper coin? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. While as for you, even the hairs of your head are numbered.

These are the sacred words from Matthew, and the Community affirms these words by saying, AMEN.

Homily Starter: Deb

I think fathers get a bad rap sometimes. They are not considered as loving as mothers, not thought of as giving a big hug, and might in contrast be the disciplinarian. They are not the ones at home in our culture, at least in the past. Not the cooks, cleaners and ones helping with homework. Father’s Day was not even celebrated in the United States for many years as Mother’s Day had traditionally been.

In our Catholic tradition though, we are steeped in the concept of Abba God as Jesus shared with us. Fathers Day was celebrated in different ways and in different cultures, possibly for over 1500 years. Jesus shows us a relationship with our creator who cares so deeply about us, that even the hairs on our head are counted. How amazing that we are that unique and special!

Today, we celebrate those father-figures in our lives – Dads, Husbands, Brothers, Sons, Uncles, Friends and Neighbors. The ones who gave the hug, shared time and talent to teach us things. The ones who listened when we went to them and asked for help. The ones who stood by us.

Jesus presented a relationship to his neighbors, (and subsequently to us) that confirms that he thought of God as Goodness and Love, and not a punitive bringer of judgement, hell-fire and brimstone. This concept of a loving Abba-God based in Scripture is a wonderful way for us to be in relationship with the men in our lives, today.

Homily Starter, Bill:

Several months back I had one of the those: “Ah Ha” moments. A time when you take the time to re-examine what you thought was true.                   
I was out running errands with my son in his car. Along the way he stopped for gas. Looking out the window I was amazed to see my son jiggling with the handle of the gas pump so the meter read a five or a zero. It is was the same thing I have been doing for years.  I thought this was strange because I never suggested to my son to do this when he filled his gas tank.

The next day I shared this story with my mother. After hearing the story my mother said, “Oh that is something your father used to do that would drive me crazy.” It was at that moment I came to realize I was more like my father than I had ever imagined.
                                                                                                                        I find this funny because growing up in the 60’s I wanted my dad to be just like those dads I watched on TV. I wanted my dad to be just like Ward Clever - A dad that would sit you down and have long heart-to-heart talks. A dad that would give you a pat on the back when you were finished talking.                

My father was nothing like that.  We never sat down to have heart to heart talks. My father was also always very reluctant to share any form of affection.  I was 47 years when I heard my father say, “I love you”.

What I came to realize in that “Ah Ha” moment was that the values that I learned from my father came from the example he set. The values of honesty, hard work and self-sacrifice.                                

It wasn’t till after my father passed away in 2015 that l found out what my father did during the war. When I would ask my father “What did you do during the war?”, his only reply was “I was stationed on a small island in the Pacific.” In my mind I thought my father's war experience must of been just like the TV show McCale’s Navy.

This was not true. What I discovered was my father was stationed in probably one of the most dangerous places in the South Pacific: IL Island, Okinawa, Japan. I found out that my father’s job as a signalman was to help direct Navy planes when they landed or took off. My father risked his life everyday while he was there.

Many of the people my father served with never made it home. My father was like many of the people of his generation. He never talked about it. He never thought he was a hero. He never expected that he should be praised for what he did.

I believe my father and many of the people of his generation were willing to serve for one very simple reason. They believed it was the right thing to do.

In September my third grandchild will be born. I often wonder what my grand-children’s’ lives will be like.  Will they keep jigging the handle on the gas pump till it reads either a five or a zero? Lord I hope not!

Let us hope and pray when our grandchildren look back on the year 2020, they will able to discover the positive things we did to make the world we lived in a better place. Let us also hope and pray that they will be a light to future generations.

Shared Homily. Deb: Please feel free to share your insights.

Statement of Faith

We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.

We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.

We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.

We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.

We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen. 

As we prepare for the eucharistic meal, we recognize that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We pray today, this special litany of blessings and intentions in honor of Father’s Day.

Holy One.
Today we ask You to bless our earthly fathers
for the many times they reflected the love, strength, generosity, wisdom and mercy that You exemplify in Your relationship with us.
All: Cradle us in your heart.

We honor our fathers for putting our needs above their own convenience and comfort;
for teaching us to show courage and determination in the face of adversity;
for challenging us to move beyond self-limiting boundaries;
for modeling the qualities that would turn us into responsible, principled, caring adults.
All: Cradle us in your heart.

Not all our fathers lived up to these ideals.
Give them the grace to acknowledge and learn from their mistakes.
Give us the grace to extend to them the same forgiveness that you offer us all.
Help us to resist the urge to stay stuck in past bitterness,
instead, moving forward with humility and peace.
All: Cradle us in your heart.

We ask your blessing on those men who served
as father figures in our lives when our biological fathers weren't able to do so.
May the love and selflessness they showed us
be returned to them in all their relationships, and help them to know that their influence has changed us for the better.
All: Cradle us in your heart.

Give new and future fathers the guidance they need to raise happy and holy children, grounded in a love for God and other people -and remind these fathers that treating all with dignity, compassion and respect is one of the greatest gifts they can give their family.
All: Cradle us in your heart.

We pray that our fathers who have passed into the next life have been welcomed into Your loving embrace,
and that our family will one day be reunited in your heavenly kingdom.
All: Cradle us in your heart.

Please voice your own silent intentions.

Deb: Holy One, You Cradle us with selfless love, strength, generosity, wisdom and mercy, hear our prayers this day. Amen.

(Source: Modified from Tony Rossi, The Jesuit Online Resource for Father’s Day)

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

God Beyond All Names, who gives life and breath to everyone and everything in our world, let us find life, breath and meaning for ourselves and our world.
We celebrate and give thanks, together, for the men in our communities. That women and men are different invites us into partnership, invites us to share the burdens and the joys of life.

In the gentle care of the Holy one we find our home. And in the living Spirit we are united this day in offering praise as we sing: 


Blessed be our God

Blessed be our God!   
Joy of our hearts, source of all life and love!   
God of Heaven and Earth!  
God of Heaven and Earth!  
Dwelling within, calling us all by name!   
Alleluia, sing! Alleluia, sing!  
  
Gift of love and peace!  
Gift of love and peace! 
Jesus Christ, Jesus our hope and light!  
A flame of faith in our hearts! 
A flame of faith in our hearts! 
Proclaiming the day, shining throughout the night!  
Alleluia, sing!  
Alleluia, sing! 
(Alleluia Sing by David Haas)  

Great Mystery with a father’s heart, you gather us as your children. You comfort and hold us in your warm embrace. Eternal and loving Source of Life, we thank you this day, for being part of your family.

Great Mystery, with a father’s heart, love surrounds and supports us, in good and difficult times, in the midst of joy and pain, always and everywhere. We are never left alone nor abandoned.

When we hurt we are held in love’s embrace. When we are afraid we are surrounded with compassionate care. When we are hungry we are nourished with the bread of life.

Deb: Please extend your hands as we pray the prayers of consecration

We are grateful for the God Beyond All Names at our Eucharistic Table and for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world, standing in solidarity with the oppressed and the broken.  

All: On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at the Seder supper with his companions and friends.  He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.  
  
All lift their plate as the community prays the following: 

When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:  
Take and eat, this is my very self. 
 (consume bread and pause)  
  
All lift their cup as community prays the following: 

Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying: 
Take and drink. 
Whenever you remember me like this, 
I am among you. 
(drink and pause)  

ALL: We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. 

For those who have been blessed with an awareness of parental care, who have looked to be guided and nurtured, we give thanks, and we pray for unity of the human family.  May we cradle others, that they too may enjoy a life of nurturance and acceptance.

For those who hunger and thirst, who are lost and alone, who yearn to be given new direction, new hope and new life, we pray that they experience through us care, compassion and love. Let us be seen and known as faithful followers of Jesus the Christ through this community of faith. Help us to uphold the teachings of Jesus, our brother, as we seek to bring justice and peace to the world.

For the many strengths of men, their gifts of selfless love, strength, generosity, wisdom and mercy and so much more, we are grateful.

So, we trust that the Spirit of the Holy One will continue to beckon us to live out the Gospel values of compassion and equality, bringing peace and justice to the world in which we live. AMEN.

Deb: Let us pray the Prayer of Jesus:

O Holy One who is within, around and among us.
We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come. Your will be done.
Unfolding from the depths within us.
Each day your give us all we need,
You remind us of our limits, and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage,
For yours is the dwelling place within us,
The empowerment around us.
And the celebration among us. Now and forever. Amen.
(From Miriam Therese Winter)

Communion Meditation: The Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler and Kenny Rogers.
Upper Room Tribute to Fathers 2020

Bill: Let us pray together our Closing Prayer and Blessing.

We give our thanks, Creator God, for the fathers in our lives. ...

For those who are fathers, we ask for wisdom and humility in the face of the task of parenting. Give them the strength to do well by their children and by You.

Give us all as Community, the vision to support the men in our lives as they walk in your Divine Footsteps.
In Your Holy name, O God, we pray.  Amen,

(The Eucharistic Prayer modified from the Upper
Room Mother’s Day liturgy, 2020.)



Friday, June 19, 2020

Mary, Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community June 20, 2020 Zoom Liturgy 12th Sunday in Extra-Ordinary Time Father’s and Mother’s Day 2020 Presiders: Lee Breyer, Katy Zatsick ARCWP




Theme: “Our Mother, Our Father…”   

Lee: Our theme today honors our parents; our fathers and mothers on this Father’s Day. We honor all wise elders who nurtured our faith. We honor our Creator God of past, present and future; our Father and Mother in whom we live and move and have our being.  Holy Mystery our Source, our Sustainer and Receiver of all life and creation.

Welcome and Gathering

Katy:  Welcome to our Zoom liturgy at Mary Mother of Jesus, an inclusive Catholic Community where all are welcome. 
-We celebrate this liturgy especially in memory of Bob MacMillan who transitioned into God’s Love on June 24,2019.
-We invite you to pray the liturgy and respond where it says “All.” 
-All participants will be muted during the liturgy except for the presiders and readers. Our readers today are Judy and Kevin Connelly, and Kirsten Miller. Pat MacMillan is our IT.
-Please have bread and wine/juice nearby as we pray our Eucharistic prayer.
-If anyone has visitors they would like to introduce to our community, please do so now. Raise your hand, unmute to do so. (red mic to white)  

Gathering Song: Psalm 139
Sung by Kathryn Christian
I'll not be afraid
You are with me always
I will trust in you
Through this night
I feel your Spirit rise
Deep within me calling
To let go and find new light

For you have formed me
In my mother's womb
My days are safely secured
If I take the wings
of the morning to the sea
There you will follow me

O God you have searched me
And you have known me
When I fall and when I arise
You search out my path
And you guide me knowing
Every word upon my heart

For you have formed me
In my mother's womb
My days are safely secured
If I take the wings
of the morning to the sea
There you will follow me

Opening Prayer

Lee: Father God we give you thanks for all life, all of creation and your human family. Mother God we give you thanks for providing nurturing and supportive adults, friends and community throughout our life.  We give thanks for joy and sorrow, peaceful and challenging times and circumstances.  We know they are given to us so that we may grow into the Compassion and Kindness of Jesus Christ. Our friends and family accompany us as we walk to Emmaus with Jesus our wise Elder Brother on our Way home to be embraced by Unconditional Love. All: Amen
Communal Reconciliation Rite
Katy: We pause now to remember the times we have “missed the mark.” Recall one missed opportunity, one broken or damaged relationship. Now imagine this person or situation in the light of healing love as we ask for forgiveness and healing.

(Pause briefly. Then Extend arm over community)

All: I love you, Please forgive me, I am sorry, I thank you.
Liturgy of the Word

(Kevin) First Reading: Only a Dad  by Edgar Albert Guest
Only a dad, with a tired face, coming home from the daily race, bringing little of gold or fame, To show how well he has played the game, But glad in his heart that his own rejoice, To see him come, and to hear his voice.
Only a dad, with a brood of four, One of ten million men or more. Plodding along in the daily strife, Bearing the whips and the scorns of life, with never a whimper of pain or hate, For the sake of those who at home await.
Only a dad, neither rich nor proud, merely one of the surging crowd, toiling, striving from day to day, facing whatever may come his way, silent, whenever the harsh condemn, and bearing it all for the love of them.
Only a dad, but he gives his all, To smooth the way for his children small, doing, with courage stern and grim, the deeds that his father did for him. This is the line that for him I pen, Only a dad, but the best of men.
All: To honor all our ancestors, our fathers and mothers, we say AMEN.  
(Kevin) Responsorial: Psalm 119, verses 121-128
Response; All: May I radiate your Compassion of peace and the truth.

Breathe on me, O breath of Inspiration, in the silence of my tranquil heart, infill me with your wisdom. O that I might radiate the compassion and peace, the truth and beauty of the Beloved!
All: May I radiate your compassion of peace and the truth.

Direct my steps, Oh Holy One, that I may humbly walk with you.  The witness of your Life is my model; therefore, my soul yearns for You. The unfolding of your Way gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. All: May I radiate your Compassion of peace and the truth.

My mouth pours forth praise continually, for I am ever grateful for your Promises, You come to me and are gracious to me, as You are to all who open our heart’s door.
All: May I radiate your compassion of peace and the truth.

Guide my steps according to your Wisdom, and show me how to lovingly co-create with You. Let me not be lured by the world’s values, that I may walk the path of wholeness.
All: May I radiate your compassion of peace and the truth.                 
                                    (Adaptation by Nan Merrill, Praying the Psalms; An Invitation to Wholeness)

(Judy)Second Reading: taken from To Love Kindness: The Heart of Compassion, Bernard Haring, C.SS.R, pg. 9
Everyone is meant to become a masterpiece of God’s love and, at the same time, co-artist in the wonderful work of forming others in God’s authentic image.  Each person can develop some dimension of art--of creativity.  And, whatever our individual skills or limits in the human arts, we can all become experts in the supreme art (author’s emphasis) of being loving and lovable people: of becoming saints and helping each other in this most glorious work of art.  We have the divine promises. The world needs us to be beautiful, whole, and holy people. The inspired word of Fr. Bernard Haring and we respond:     All: Amen.



(Kirsten) Gospel: Matthew 10:26-33
“Jesus teaches, “Don’t let people intimidate you.  Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, and nothing is hidden that will not be made known.  What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light.  What you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops.

Don’t fear those who can deprive the body of life but can’t destroy the soul.  Rather, fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.

Are not the sparrows sold for pennies? Yet not a single sparrow falls to the ground without your Abba God’s knowledge. As for you, every hair on your head has been counted.  So, don’t be afraid of anything---you are worth more than an entire flock of sparrows.

 Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before Abba God in heaven.  Whoever disowns me before others.  I will disown before Abba God in heaven. The inspired word of Matthew and we say: All: Amen.

Homily Starter:
Katy Zatsick ARCWP
Today our liturgy celebrates Father’s and Mother’s Day. These words from the Gospel touched my heart, “As for you, every hair of your head has been counted.  So, don’t be afraid of anything—you are worth more than an entire flock of sparrows.”
And now we are living and being challenged with the pandemic of Covid 19 with 100,000+ deceased and will be confronted with a new world as Covid moves into history.  Covid is upheaving culture, economy, communities, country and the world. We are also being confronted with systemic racism and the brutal lynching of George Floyd. Where does a faith come from that holds me in the belief “…I am worth more than a flock of sparrows” to my heavenly Father/Mother?
My grandparents were from Eastern Europe and arrived in the late 1800s and early 1900’s My father Joseph was born in 1911, a younger brother of 11 children. Polish was the language spoken at home and at school.  English was learned as a second language for both of my parents.  In my father’s home, traditional pre-Vatican II Polish Roman Catholicism was lived and brought into our family when my mother and dad married.  I was born in 1943, baptized, sent to Catholic elementary school, with Latin mass every day in the gym. May and October our whole family gathered for the rosary each night after dinner.
I came of age at Vatican II and all those “old Catholic ways”-confessions, novenas were stopped or put away. I experienced being a woman in a new church, reforming itself and taking our faith lives into a new understanding of who we are as the People of God.  Readers, Eucharistic ministers, justice and peace activists It was heady and I thought “my dad’s faith is old-fashioned and of lesser value” I judged his faith and how he lived it as less-than.
The art you see at the beginning of our liturgy is a piece I completed after my dad’s death in 1987. I attended a weekly morning, before sunrise, meditation time. A small ecumenical group of us in the dark, a candle lit, with a leader who read their choice of a short scripture, poem etc. Then we sat in silence. I was very upset with the reader’s choice that morning, “What has this reading to do with faith?”
I sat in the dark silence; an image arose.  The daily prayer book is the one Daddy prayed from every day as he sat at our dining table. The edges are brown because being a janitor he worked with his hands. The hills represent those of Punxsutawney Pa where he was born, a son of a coal miner.  The rosary is Dad’s, which he carried everywhere. My mother didn’t drive, so as she shopped, Dad would say the rosary as he waited. The light is the Light who is God holding this Beloved son.
“My father’s soul is a golden vessel and his prayers flowed from him a rich, golden moving stream an acceptable offering to his heavenly Father and Mother.”
I was humbled, shamed, judged and found lacking in my “Vatican II” perspective on spiritual life. I will never ever judge anyone’s spiritual journey.  I can only beg that my own prayers are acceptable to our Father and Mother, Holy Mystery. Now in the time of Covid, its continuing danger and aftermath my father’s deep Roman Catholic faith holds me and teaches me to trust in God each new day.  Faith that each of us is worth more than a “flock of sparrows” to our heavenly Mother/Father. This art hangs on my bedroom wall.  It is the last thing I see at night and the first art I see when I awake.
Humanity is at a collective human evolutionary choice point, are we ONE? America faces a cultural identity evolutionary choice; how can we ensure that all Americans are equal in all aspects of our lives? What gift/s did your father or mother, wise friend, Elder, or another give you that you count on for your decision-making during this new time of Covid, and its aftermath? What faith gifts enable your growing understanding of the institutional and systemic racism in the USA? And the work ahead to delete racism from all of our American communities and institutions. What faith gifts will get us to a new culture with compassion and mercy? Where will our courage and strength, wisdom and resilience come from? For hope? How will I/we respond to the evolutionary choices to start anew with future hopes for our family, country, the world and God’s creation?
Please raise your hand if you would like to share and unmute yourself (red mic to white.)

Communal Statement of Faith

All: We believe in You, Loving Mother and Father of your evolving Creation. Love creating Past, Present, Future throughout the universes, in whom we live and move and have our being.
We follow our wise elder brother, Jesus Christ whose acts of healing and reconciliation express Your Compassionate Love.  We believe in Your Spirit of Wisdom within and moving through us,
Your Presence evolving here and now as we live justly, love tenderly and walk with integrity
learned from our wise elders. Amen.

Prayers of and for the Community

Lee: We now remember all those who are suffering especially from Covid and systemic and institutional racism. Our response is: All: “Jesus we trust in you. Your Love sustains us.”

Judy: For all those suffering from Covid and all families who have lost a member due to the pandemic. All: “Jesus we trust in you. Your Love sustains us.”

Kevin: For all those suffering the loss of family members due to systemic, institutional racism and police use of deadly force. All: “Jesus we trust in you. Your Love sustains us.”

Kirsten: That the Federal and State governments will provide PPE and all safety measures needed to protect medical staff, patients, and all workers in essential industries. All: “Jesus we trust in you. Your Love sustains us.”

Lee: For what else should we pray?

Lee: Loving Mother and Father Holy Mystery we know you listen to our prayers. Amen
Preparation Of The Gifts

Katy:  Blessed are You, O Loving Mother, through Your divine providence we have this bread, our MMOJ community of mothers, fathers and wise elders of faith, to become for us the Bread of Life. 

All: Blessed are You Holy Mother forever.  

Lee:  Blessed are You, O Loving Father, through Your divine providence we have this wine of honor for our earthly mothers, fathers and wise elders to offer, it will become our spiritual drink. 

All: Blessed are You Holy Father forever.

Lee:  Nurturing One, we are united in this sacrament by the love of Jesus in communion with all who proclaim the liberating power of your Spirit Sophia, rising through our childhood, adulthood, and in our senior years, always evolving in our midst calling us to build the unity of Oneness in a compassionate world.  All:  Amen.

Eucharistic Prayer
Katy: Your Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, is rising up in all who work for humanity’s healing and well-being especially now during this Covid pandemic and systemic racism. With thankful hearts, in the company of all holy women and men, your liberating Spirit rises up within us, works through us and we sing:

All:  Holy, Holy, Holy (adapted from Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker)



We are Holy, Holy, Holy…3x , You are Holy, Holy, Holy, I am Holy, Holy, Holy, We are Holy, Holy, Holy

Lee: O Heart of Love, Your Spirit moved through Mary of Magdala and the Easter women as they stood by the broken body of Jesus and encountered the Risen One.  Your Spirit moved through your disciples as they followed your Way after you ascended to be with the Holy One. Your Spirit moves through us as we serve the broken body of Christ rising up in our world today. 

Katy:  Please extend Your hands in blessing.

Katy and Lee:  Pour out Your Spirit Sophia anew upon this bread and wine and upon us as we become more deeply the Christ Presence in our world.

All: On the night before he died, Jesus came to table with his family and the women and men he loved. Jesus took bread blessed and broke it, saying, “Take, eat, this is my body. Do this in memory of me.”                         (pause)

All: After supper, Jesus poured a cup of wine and shared it with his friends, saying,
“This is the cup of the covenant of my love. As often as You drink of it, remember me.”

Lee and All:  Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died in all those who have passed away from the Coronavirus and from police brutality.
Christ is rising in all those working for the well-being of humanity; searching for a vaccine, treatments and dismantling institutional racism.
Christ comes each day in our ministry, prayers and actions for a renewed world with justice and equality for all.

Katy and All:  Embracing Presence, we remember all the companions who have gone before us:  Mary, Mother of Jesus, Mary of Magdala, and all holy women and men who are rising up in loving service to heal our world.  We remember and honor our ancestors who came to these shores to start a new life. For it is through living as Jesus lived, and loving as he loved, that we awaken to Your Spirit empowering us to work for justice and equality for all citizens in our country and for the life of your planet Earth. AMEN.

The Prayer of Jesus
Lee:  Let us pray as Jesus taught us. “Our Father and Mother…”

Sign of Peace
Lee:  Jesus said to his disciples, “My peace I leave You.  My peace I give You.” 
(Let us place our hands in front of us, palms up, as we sing, “Peace if flowing like a river…” you may change “captives” to “peoples”)




Peace is flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me. Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free. Love is flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me. Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free. Healing's flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me. Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free. Alleluia

Communion

Katy: Please join in praying the Litany for the Breaking of the Bread All:
Holy One, You call us to speak truth to power; we will do so.
Holy One, You call us to live the Gospel of healing and justice; we will do so.
Holy One, You call us to be Your presence in the world; we will do so.

Lee:  All are worthy to receive from Love’s feast. This is the bread of life and the cup of blessing. Blessed are we who are called to Christ’s table.  All:  We are the Body and Blood of Christ for the world.                         

Pease receive/share Eucharist now.

Announcements                     

Concluding Rite

Lee:   The Holy One is within You. As you go forth to continue your ministry for justice and equality, and peace for all life and earth itself, may Sophia inform your decisions to choose Love toward all whom you meet. All:  And also within You.

Katy: Please extend Your hands as we pray our final blessing.

All: May the Great Birther who created you in wholeness, comfort you when you call!  May the Name of Love be your protection and rise up in your heart as a tower of strength! May all you have given in gratitude with open hands be returned to you a hundredfold! Let us shout for joy as Love triumphs over fear. Amen                                              (Nan Merrill,  from Psalm 20)

Closing Song: 
God Beyond All Names – Bernadette Farrell

God, beyond our dreams, you have stirred in us a memory,
You have placed your powerful Spirit in the hearts of humankind.

Refrain:  All around us, we have known you;
               All creation lives to hold you,
               In our living and our dying
               We are bringing You to birth.

God, beyond all names, you have made us in your image,
We are like you, we reflect you, we are woman, we are man.  R

God, beyond all words, all creation tells your story,
You have shaken with our laughter, you have trembled with our tears.  R

God, beyond all time, you are laboring within us;
We are moving, we are changing, in your Spirit ever new.  R

God of tender care, you have cradled us in goodness,
You have mothered us in wholeness, you have loved us into birth.  R

Joseph Zatsick
April 25, 1911-November 27, 1987


Thank you for gathering with us to worship as our MMOJ community.
We hope to see you again. Be safe, Be well.
May our Holy Mother and Holy Father bless you and your family.

Christ acts like a loving mother. To induce us to follow him, Christ gives us himself
as an example and promises us a reward in his kin-dom.
St Anthony of Padua

If you would like to add your intercession to our MMOJ Community Prayers book,
Please send an email to katyrcwp@tampabay.rr.com
Or give Katy a call at 813 938 5750.


If you would like to invite another person to attend our liturgy please refer them to
www.marymotherofJesus.org where the day’s liturgy is found. Zoom instructions are also included there.

Please support our community, send your check to:
Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community
% St Andrews UCC, 6908 Beneva Rd., Sarasota, FL 34328